The Democrats I Know

I am absolutely fascinated and surprised at just how much I have learned about my friends and acquaintances via their Facebook (FB) posts. Like many people, my FB friends consist of family, current good friends, friends I don’t see often, and friends from high school and college. I was a teenager in the late seventies and grew up in a pretty progressive area. Partying was prevalent – smoking pot, drinking, and many other drugs were involved. From what I can tell the majority of us grew up just fine and are productive members of society, some having done some pretty cool things. We were all what we considered hippies back then; sex, drugs, and rock and roll was our mantra – being the pre-herpes, pre-AIDs, pre-crack, pre-meth days. Well fast forward 30 years, and I am generally shocked at how many of my friends are raging Republicans. Today one of my FB friends, someone I spent a lot of time with growing up as we lived in the same small neighborhood for a while, as well as went through school together, shared a post stating the top 10 reasons people vote Democrat. This post listed things like:

Democrats believe they are too irresponsible to own a gun and that the police can protect them well enough.

Democrats believe in marrying anyone they want, and can now marry their German shepherds.

Democrats aren’t concerned about millions of babies being aborted, but want to keep all death row inmates alive and comfy.

Though more reasons were listed, I stopped there, probably because many of these same people that are now Republicans either had abortions or had a girlfriend that had one. I know this because that kind of thing was kept from what we called “the People” aka our parents, but it usually got around with your good friends and your clique. Come on, everybody gossiped. I don’t know why that thought popped in my head, but it did. Maybe because I can’t help but wonder about so many things, though I know people change as they get older, more mature and more experienced.

Though I am an Independent, I have voted for many Democrats. I have voted for many Independents, Libertarian and Green party members, and some Republicans, too. Though I believe in God, and believe marriage is between a man and woman, I also have no problems with my gay friends or family members wanting to be married, civil union, whatever you call it. There’s the problem – half the time it’s a matter of semantics. But that’s another story for another time. Having said that, I do not believe in people marrying their dogs, nor do my Democratic friends.

I believe in the right to own a gun, and I have had a few. I do not have a problem with background checks, and have been through them not only to buy a gun, but to get a few jobs. They have been registering guns for years, so it’s not like this is exactly new. I would not be honest though if I did not tell you that I do have issues with the government having so much information about us, and worry that this could become problematic someday. Many of my friends who are Democrats are gun owners and believe in this right. I also have a few Republican friends that are totally anti-gun.

Getting back to the abortion issue, typically no one is pro-abortion. They are pro-choice. Meaning they do not think middle-aged men in suits should make healthcare and life-changing decisions for women, particularly women they do not know. The thought of any woman feeling so desperate (for whatever reason) as to end a pregnancy, and then having to do it in unhealthy, unsanitary conditions, possibly destroying any chances they have for future children is unacceptable to some. Quite frankly, that is unacceptable to me. I had so many girlfriends who had abortions in the late 1970s and 1980s, some more than one. I can just imagine how many of them would have had different outcomes if their options had been different. Many of them would have sought out that procedure regardless, and would’ve ended up in some back alley-like hellhole. Many of them might not have the beautiful children and grandchildren they have now. Would that have been a righteous punishment for a mistake made as a young person finding their way in the world? I am not saying abortion is the right solution to an unwanted pregnancy, but what I am saying is that is a decision that the woman facing that dilemma should be able to make by herself with her healthcare professional. Many of my Democrat friends are pro-life opponents. I also have some pro-choice friends who are Republicans.

Last but not least, I do not think anyone I know believes that all death row inmates should be kept alive and comfy, regardless of their political opinion – but they do want to make sure the person on death row is actually guilty.

I just wanted to shed some light on how some of the Democrats and Republicans I know think about these particular subjects. I have much more I would like to address, but this is enough for today.

Thanks for the comment lwk! Glad to know someone is reading 🙂 I have enjoyed reading some of your pieces, too – especially the recent ones on gun control. And like you, I definitely support term limits!!! Though I write about many different things depending on my mood (and am new to blogging), I hope you keep reading and commenting!

About the abortion, I can´t put myself in a woman´s shoes but yet again you said many of you girlfriends had abortion in what was your hippy era so everything went, that responsibility does land in the hands of that person, and should be the person deal with it. I just find pictures of fetus who have been aborted and they´re kids! Small creatures,but little humans. I don´t know how you can look at those pictures and not find it a crime. Some of my friends I had in college, a lot of democrats since I lived in California or as I liked to call it the Communist Republic of California, did give me the argument that they are not humans yet and a woman can decide to do whatever she wants with her body. So first off I would say, good, go to the police and say you want to kill yourself, let´s see if you walk out of the police station or you´re send to the psychward and after the sarcastic comment, I´ll ask them why are they not human yet? Answer: because they depend completely on the another person to feed them and breath. I figured that when I was born somebody had to breast feed me, and when I could eat by myself somebody had to prepare me the food and a healthy one or the healthiest it could be. So dependent? Up until 18 would be the official figure. So by that reasoning a mother could legally kill her child 17 and below. You didn´t do your homework? She takes out the axe and nails you in the head.

Charly Priest – leaning to conservative – I think I am mortally wounded LOL!!! Did you miss this one – https://justsomethingiwasthinkingabout.com/2014/02/28/i-believe-in/ -?? Regarding the abortion issue – fuck here’s that damn conservative side showing – I don’t think women should be able to have them whenever they decide – I do have opinions and comfort levels regarding timeframes unless the mother’s life is in danger. Having said that, there are morning after pills now that were not available back then, but do all women have access to that & can they afford it? In all honesty, I do not want to make those decisions, nor be all up in someone else’s business like that. I also DO NOT want someone up in my business either . . . that is a slippery slope for sure. I will tell you that the girlfriends I had in high school that had multiple abortions I thought were foolish & careless to continue having sex without using birth control. BUT they & they alone will have to live with their choices & be accountable for them throughout their lives & when they go meet their maker (if they are believers). I can tell you, I have friends that would rather admit to shooting drugs in high school than the fact they had an abortion – meaning, they aren’t proud of that fact, either – just felt like it was the best decision for them at the time. [NOTE: I had a wide range of friends who had an even wider range of activities they were involved in.] Last thought on that subject – in the 1990s HBO did some afterschool-like specials called Lifestories – Families in Crisis. These shows dealt with pressing issues in society involving kids, families, communities. Pretty sure I saw them all, but the one that hit me the hardest & I never forgot was “Public Law 106: The Becky Bell Story.” And no I did not have to look up the name of it, it is burned into my memory. My daughter was about 4 at the time, & watching this made me break down – just thinking about it makes me cry, even today. Damn – that is going to be my next blog entry. Thank you again Mr. Priest for being so inspiring!! And thanks so much for reading my thoughts & taking the time to comment 🙂
OH & switching gears – on a comical note, if my parents could’ve taken me out at 17, they might’ve – I was a bit of a handful 😉